When the Great Recession began to embed itself in the fabric of our economy, conservative values that had guided economic policymaking were turned on their head. Deregulation, or the lack of government involvement in the market, was no longer possible without what Jonathan Levy refers to as a economic Armageddon in his book Ages ofContinue reading “The Shock of the Great Recession”
Author Archives: oliviak
The U.S. and Its Economic Rubric
Almost 20 years after the 1972 Stockholm Conference, the United Nations gathered and held what would come to be known as the Rio Earth Summit. The point of meeting in Rio was to establish guidelines for developed and developing countries as far as climate change protocol. Within historical context, Rio is significant because it beganContinue reading “The U.S. and Its Economic Rubric”
American “Freedom”
On page 48 of The Limits of Power, author Andrew Bacevich writes, “The truth is that the United States is engaged in an effort to incorporate Central Asia into the Pax Americana” (Bacevich), as in the overarching goal is to mold that section of the world into a vessel that will continue peace and prosperityContinue reading “American “Freedom””
The New Right & Anti-Environmentalism
In 1964, the Wilderness Act was passed with broad support among both parties. As people banded together from all walks of life to support the protection of wilderness because the campaign appealed to “patriotism, spirituality, outdoor recreation, and a respect for nature” (Turner). As the environmentalists continued to negotiate with the federal government over landContinue reading “The New Right & Anti-Environmentalism”
The Rise of Falwell & the Christian Right
In Daniel K. Williams article titled “Jerry Falwell’s Sunbelt Politics: The Regional Origins of the Moral Majority,” the gradual transformation of Jerry Falwell from a “small-town, undereducated, southern pastor” (142) to a leader of the Christian Right is studied within the context of Sunbelt politics. Born and raised in Lynchberg, Virginia, a town “which aContinue reading “The Rise of Falwell & the Christian Right”
Deindustrialization & Its Baggage
In “Enduring Disaster: The Recycling of the Working Class,” Gabriel Winant illustrates how the working-class, specifically steelworkers, were “recycled” following the wave of plant closures and mass layoffs caused by deindustrialization. With the rapidly increasing unemployment rates in states like Pennsylvania, a new service-based economy was activated. The gradual transition from a male-dominated, labor-based economyContinue reading “Deindustrialization & Its Baggage”
Nixon & the Silent Majority
In “Hardhats Versus Elite Doves: Consolidation of the Image,” Penny Lewis asserts that the tension between the elite doves v. reactionary hardhats was more a stereotype than anything. Rather, the distaste of White working-class Americans for the antiwar protesters was not directly tethered to a disapproval of their message. Following the 1968 antiwar protest thatContinue reading “Nixon & the Silent Majority”
Appy & DeGroot single-handedly make me like John Lennon less
In Christian Appy’s article, he explains that the war in Vietnam was a “working-class war” because the men fighting and dying in Vietnam were primarily working-class men. Appy argues this point by comparing the recruitment numbers and deaths of urban working-class neighborhoods such as Dorchester, Massachusetts to suburban upper-middle class and wealthy neighborhoods. Disproportionate numbersContinue reading “Appy & DeGroot single-handedly make me like John Lennon less”
Coded Language and Double Standards
The struggle for civil rights in New York City and Boston challenges the traditional Civil Rights Movement narrative by highlighting the challenges almost identical to those in the South that were faced by northern African Americans. Clearly, segregation was not simply a regional problem—if it was, there would not have been the intense and drawn-outContinue reading “Coded Language and Double Standards”
Delta-9: A Cold War Corpse
The Minutemen Missiles in South Dakota during the Cold War were implemented to bolster the U.S.’s arsenal in the case of nuclear war. As Gretchen Heefner explains in the article Missiles and Memory: Dismantling South Dakota’s Cold War, “Far to the north and well inland, [South Dakota and its neighbors] were in striking distance ofContinue reading “Delta-9: A Cold War Corpse”
Will Wright 